You have to hand it to Michael Douglas. At an age (66) when most actors have gracefully retired from the screen, the man takes on a challenge that actors half his age wouldn’t even consider, thinking it would be career suicide. He plays a thoroughly unlikable character with little – if any – redeeming value. And he plays it to the hilt. In Solitary Man, Douglas plays Ben Kalmen, a disgraced car salesman trying to get his life back on track after being convicted of fraud. While he desperately needs the money, Ben really wants to be back in the spotlight, to be that guy in all those television commercials that everybody remembers and not the guy they remember being led off in handcuffs when his financial house of cards collapsed. Ben just wants to be liked. Too bad he’s one of the most unlikable guys you will ever meet. The details of Ben’s fall need to be seen to be believed. No mere description with words will capture the way Douglas brings them to life. The movie is paced to give Ben Kalmen plenty of opportunities to redeem himself, and it’s fascinating to watch Douglas tee off on every one and drive them right into the nearest hazard.
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